Driving a car to work is common in modern life. However, it is difficult for a user to find a parking spot in a congested city. Often, a parking lot near a business area or an office area charges daily fee that may not be affordable by many drivers while parking at curbside may be prohibited in some areas or it is difficult to find a parking spot at the curbside. One option is to park a car at a location far away from a destination. Although the parking fee is lower at such location, there is a long walk for a driver.
One solution is to stow an auxiliary vehicle in a car and then drive the auxiliary vehicle from a stop to an office. The auxiliary vehicle may include a battery powered personal transportation devices such as an electric scooter. Driving the auxiliary vehicle to a destination from the parking lot will save lots of time comparing with walking. However, a remaining driving range of an auxiliary vehicle may be limited. The destination may not be reached by the auxiliary vehicle if the parking lot is too far away from the destination. Therefore, it is a challenge to select a parking lot with a suitable distance from the destination and an affordable fee.
Chinese Patent CN 105486318A discloses a vehicle system which includes a charging interface configured to connected to a bicycle battery, and a processing device programmed to monitor a state of charge of the bicycle battery. The processing device is configured to further estimate the traveling ranges of both a vehicle and a bicycle. The vehicle system further comprises a navigation module programmed to generate a route to a selected destination based on the estimated traveling range of both the vehicle and the bicycle.
The inventors have recognized that environment conditions can be considered in selection of a stop at which a user switches from a car to another personal transportation device such that a user will have good experience in riding the personal transportation device in a trip.